There's one complaint we here at OSNews get thrown in our faces quite often: what's up with the lack of, you know, operating system news on OSNews? Why so much mobile phone news? Why so much talk of H264, HTML5, and Flash? Where's the juicy news on tomorrow's operating systems? Since it's weekend, I might as well explain why things are the way they are. Hint: it has nothing to do with a lack of willingness.

You serve a good reply, but then you refer to the OS's which isn't mainstream as hobby OS's. How can you hurt me as a MorphOS user so much?

I use MorphOS for Web, e-mail, irc, msn, ftp... I play games on it, I write documents using Google Docs, I watch 720p movies on my macmini! I can multitask,.. I make web graphics with TvPaint.

MorphOS is not a hobbyst OS. Not for me and my usage! Maybe others uses it as a hobby OS, that doesn't mean it is because the other person doesn't know how to use MorphOS in a serious ways. Yes, the OS have its limitations compared to the big OS'es, but I find it way more comfortable to work with than any other OS's I've tried (never tried BeOS).

Stop treating Amiga, BeOS, SkyOS etc+++ users as dumb people. We use the OS's because they are alive. And yes your right. With more respect, people will have the will to try the small ones maybe. MorphOS needs more developers.. its screaming after that and now it exsists for cheap MacMini G4 hardware. It's never been easier to get a good AmigaOS compatible feeling and yet be able to watch HD content and surf the web faster than on most operating systems

This leads to the question - what really defines an hobby OS as opposed to a niche OS or a mainstream OS?

Another interesting definition to clarify is about when a given OS is truly dead.

A number of the great mini/mainframe/workstation OSes of the past can still be experienced but only via an emulator because the underlying hardware has essentially become a museum disply: ITS (PDP-10), RT-11 (PDP-11), RSTSE-11 (PDP-11), Genera (LISP Machine) and many others. Does this mean they are dead?

Similarly for the desktop OSes of the past. Being able to run AmigaOS on an recycled Mac Mini G4 is great. Yet, is there a renewed development of original applications for this OS? Many appear to be ports of existing Linux/Mac/Windows applications.

As an end-user of applications and OSes, I simply wish the geeks to have clear definitions.

Ah The memories.
I still have (on paper tape) the source code to a Video Device driver for RT-11 & RSX-11M/Plus I wish I still had a PDP-11. It is very easy to make home grown interfaces that hook into the UniBus. A few 74 series IC's and you are done but, getting them these days is a problem.
The Q-Bus was more of a problem as it was multiplexed like most modern ones.